Save Money at the Movies

Because of the high cost of babysitters, my husband and I rarely go out to the movies (although when we are given a chance to go…oftentimes it’s hard to find much worth watching these days).  When we do go, it’s easy to spend a lot of money with the cost of the movie tickets and any snacks/drinks that we want to eat during the movie.  However, it is possible to save money on movies:

• Go to matinees or a weeknight movies – at my local theater, tickets are $10/ person for weekend movies after 3:55 pm, $7.50 for weekend matinees, and $5.00 for weekday tickets.  So, if I’m willing to go on a weeknight, I save 50% of the cost of the ticket.

• Use Swagbucks to get free movie tickets – For 99 swagbucks, you can get a free movie ticket for these movie theaters.  The free pass can be used for any movie up to $12/ticket.  Don’t know what Swagbucks is?  Click here to find out more.

• Use your Entertainment Book for movie coupons – In my local entertainment book, I can get discounted movie tickets (for the matinee price), plus there are coupons for free drinks, etc.

• Check your local warehouse club for discount movie tickets – My local Costco also sells 5-packs of movie tickets to AMC Theatres for $39.99.  So, if I’m going to a weekend evening show, I would basically get 1 ticket free.

• Join any free loyalty clubs – For example, if you’re a member of the AMC Movie Watchers Club, you can avoid paying the online ticket fee when purchasing tickets online at MovieTickets.com. You earn points for free items, and you qualify for special promotions such as free popcorn on Wednesday nights at AMC Theatres.

• Eat before or after your see the movie to avoid purchasing snacks - Even if you don’t have the time/money to go out to eat before or after the show, you can still fill up at home before you leave.  Since it’s against most (if not all) theater policies to allow outside food and drinks, I can’t suggest that as a solution to saving on snacks.  However, if you visit a drive-in movie theater, you are often free to bring in your own snacks.

• Wait until the movie comes out on DVD and rent it, buy it, or check it out from your library – this idea’s not quite as much fun as going to the movie theater, but it’s definitely much cheaper.  If you do purchase the movie, many times retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart have the movie deeply discounted the first week of release.

Do you go to the movies?  If so, how do you save money when you go to the movies?

Photo by Bubbels